Tara Murray
Sunbury Macedon Ranges Veterans cricketer Peter “Archie” Dudderidge is taking on some of the best senior cricketers in the world.
Dudderidge has been selected in the Australian 17-man squad for the first over-60s cricket world cup, which started last week in Queensland.
Dudderidge is well known around local cricketing circles including coaching Sunbury United in recent times.
Twelve nations are part of the world cup, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Wales, USA, Canada and a rest of the world team.
The event was initially scheduled for 2020 before COVID-19 hit.
Queensland Veterans Cricket president Rod Rice said the tournament has been a long time coming.
“It was put off and then put off again but we have eventually got it up and running,” he said.
“It’s a big coup for Australia, Queensland and the Sunshine Coast to be able to run the first Over-60s World Cup and we have full support from local, state and national cricket representatives.
Rice said veterans cricket was more popular than ever in Australia and it provided older players with a social and physical outlet to improve mental health.
“It’s the fastest growing form of cricket in the country,” he said.
“We’ve had players compete (for club, state and country) in over-50s, 60s and 70s for a few years now and we have over-40s coming next year. We’ve brought a lot of former players back, who would otherwise be doing nothing.
“Veterans cricket is like a Men’s Shed, bringing older players together. A lot of the guys, who played against each other when they were young, hadn’t seen each other for years until they started playing veterans cricket.”
Rice expected the Australian over-60s team to be in contention for the world title.
Among those at the event is South African Peter Kirsten who was a star player in his country from the 1970s to 1990s.
Mike Procter is the manager of the South African team, while Colin Croft, who was part of the West Indies’ famous fast-bowling battery in the 1970s and early 1980s, is manager of the Windies over-60s.
Australian over-60s captain Chris Carr said he and his team-mates were pretty excited ahead of the competition.
“It’s the first World Cup for over-60s so it’s amazing to be part of that,” said the Victorian keeper-batsman.
“It’s something I didn’t expect when I first started playing over-60s but I’m certainly looking forward to it.”
